Tunisia circus and street arts festival opens Thursday across 12 governorates

The 9th International Festival of Circus and Street Arts opens on Thursday 11 June on Avenue Habib Bourguiba in Tunis, launching a national tour of free open-air performances across 12 governorates.

The festival runs until 28 June and is organised by Paparouni Circus, which has led the event since 2018. Organisers describe it as the first festival of its kind in North Africa.

This year’s edition is being held under the slogan “The circus of tomorrow begins today” and will bring acrobatics, juggling, clowning, fire shows, human pyramids, parades, workshops and evening performances to public squares, cultural spaces and open-air venues around the country.

The opening day in Tunis will take place on Avenue Habib Bourguiba, giving the festival a highly visible start in the capital before it begins its tour. The programme then moves into a mix of coastal cities, inland governorates and suburban venues.

The first stop after Tunis is an artistic camp on 12 June, followed by Bizerte on 13 June, Nabeul on 14 June and Le Kef on 15 June.

A cultural-tour day is scheduled for 16 June, before the programme resumes in Sidi Bouzid on 17 June, Kairouan on 18 June and Zaghouan on 19 June.

One of the main highlights will be in Zaghouan, where the Temple des Eaux will host the third edition of the national circus-arts competition. The site gives the competition a distinctive setting, combining performance with one of the region’s best-known heritage locations.

Radès hosts the show “Jungle Book” on 21 June, adding a family-focused performance to the closing week of the festival. The tour then continues to Siliana on 23 June and Sfax on 25 June.

The festival closes in Ben Arous on 28 June.

Full tour calendar:

11 June — Tunis, Avenue Habib Bourguiba, opening performances
12 June — Artistic camp
13 June — Bizerte
14 June — Nabeul
15 June — Le Kef
16 June — Cultural-tour day
17 June — Sidi Bouzid
18 June — Kairouan
19 June — Zaghouan, Temple des Eaux, national circus-arts competition
21 June — Radès, “Jungle Book”
23 June — Siliana
25 June — Sfax
28 June — Ben Arous, closing ceremony

The programme is designed around public access. Most performances are expected to take place outdoors, with free shows in public spaces rather than ticketed theatre halls. That makes the festival especially accessible to families and younger audiences.

Alongside the performances, the festival includes workshops and professional meetings between Tunisian and visiting artists. These sessions are intended to support exchange between performers, trainers and cultural operators working in circus and street arts.

The artistic camp and residency elements give the programme a training dimension, while the travelling format allows audiences outside Tunis to see work that is usually concentrated in the capital.

The festival is organised by Paparouni in partnership with the National Establishment for the Promotion of Festivals and Cultural and Artistic Events, the Tunisian National Tourist Office and regional cultural authorities.

For readers planning to attend, the most important point is the date of the local stop. The tour gives each host city a short window, often one day, so audiences in Bizerte, Nabeul, Le Kef, Sidi Bouzid, Kairouan, Zaghouan, Radès, Siliana and Sfax should follow local cultural pages and municipal announcements for exact performance times and locations.